This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A NEW $50 million project will be the latest addition to South Melbourne’s office market, and more development sites in the city fringe suburb are being tipped to the market.
Fortis has secured secondary consent planning approval for the 855 sqm parcel at 34 Eastern Road, which it purchased last year for $12 million alongside a Kings Way site where it is plotting an office tower. They are among five projects it has in the suburb.
Construction on the Eastern Road project will begin in June. Designed by Fieldwork Architecture, the new build will feature a ground floor retail activation, seven levels of office space and comprise 3,830 sqm of net lettable area. Tenants will also have access to two levels of basement parking.
The approved plans include wellness-focused amenities for tenants such as end-of-trip facilities, including a fully equipped gym, sauna rooms and bathroom suites. The development will also offer private cascading landscaped terraces with curated landscaping by Openwork.
“City-fringe properties such as 34 Eastern Road are becoming increasingly desirable by organisations as their employees seek to work closer to where they live and socialise,” Fortis director Charles Mellick said.
“Our development of 34 Eastern Road in South Melbourne is a response to the strong demand for premium boutique offices that offer enviable composition of location, quality and amenities.”
Fortis added 122-132 Moray Street to its South Melbourne pipeline in February. That lot – where is planning a 5,500 sqm, 12-level office building – is across the road from the new, fully occupied 101 Moray Street office project that Centuria Office REIT bought last year for $205.1 million from the Deague family.
Meanwhile, more sites in the suburb primed for office development are hitting the market.
Over $14 million is expected for a three-storey office building on a 1,750 sqm parcel at 7-19 Ballantyne Street, which has been listed through Colliers’ Daniel Wolman and Oliver Hay, and Allard Shelton’s Joseph Walton and Christian Hatzis.
The site has commercial 2 zoning and immediate access into the CBD grid. Expressions of interest close 28th April.
“As Melbourne reopens, welcomes back international travellers and students, and the workforce reverts back to the traditional office environment, confidence is rising, and decisions that were generally put off over the last two years are being converted in 2022,” Mr Wolman said.
“The unparalleled lifestyle, amenity and connectivity to the CBD positions South Melbourne as one of the most in-demand city fringe locations for developers.” Other developments in the precinct have included Market Lane at 68 Clarke Street, and the in-pipeline 134 Moray Street and Eleven Eastern, 11 Eastern Road.
Colliers’ Hay, Wolman and Leon Ma are also preparing to formally launch the marketing campaign of 450-460 City Road, a strategic amalgamation play across seven separately titled sites with an underlying flexible zoning and corner positioning in the heart of South Melbourne.
They have just sold a blank canvas commercial development site just around the corner from the South Melbourne Market unconditionally on a land rate of circa $11,500 per sqm. The 135-137 Market Street property sold for about $4 million and has approval for a seven-level building.
